The Greek College, established 1699, was a short-lived attempt to create a separate

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

for

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

students at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. This was active from 1699 to 1705, although only 15 Greeks are recorded as members. During the 17th century, there was regular contact and exchange of theological views between

Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

and the various

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

churches (cf. Patriarch Cyril of Constantinople), with some aiming for a union against their common dogmatic enemy, the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. The idea to establish a Greek Orthodox College at Oxford was first suggested in 1677, but it was only formally proposed in 1698 through the initiative of Benjamin Woodroffe, penultimate

Principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

Gloucester Hall Gloucester College, Oxford, was a Benedictine institution of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, from the late 13th century until the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. It was never a typical college of the Universit ...

, and with the support of

Lord William Paget Captain Lord William Paget (1 March 1803 – 17 May 1873) was a British naval commander and Whig politician. Biography Paget was the second son of Field Marshal Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, by his first wife Lady Caroline Elizabeth, ...

, then ambassador to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, the

Levant Company The Levant Company was an English chartered company formed in 1592. Elizabeth I of England approved its initial charter on 11 September 1592 when the Venice Company (1583) and the Turkey Company (1581) merged, because their charters had expired, ...

and the

Greek Orthodox Church Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...

. Woodroffe erected a building next to

Beaumont Palace Beaumont Palace, built outside the north gate of Oxford, was intended by Henry I about 1130 to serve as a royal palace conveniently close to the royal hunting-lodge at Woodstock (now part of the park of Blenheim Palace). Its former presence i ...

for the purpose of housing students, opposite Gloucester Hall, which was later known as "Woodroffe's Folly". It was taken down at the beginning of the 19th century. The project eventually failed in 1705 due to the objections of the Greek Orthodox Church. There are only 15

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

reported as members, although Greeks attended Oxford both before and after the existence of the College. One alumnus of the Greek College was Alexander Helladius. File:East View of Ruin of Beaumont Palace and view of Greek College building.png, View of the ruins of Beaumont Palace with "Woodroffe's Folly" next to it from the east File:North-East View of Ruin of Beaumont Palace and view of Greek College building.png, View of the ruins of Beaumont Palace with "Woodroffe's Folly" next to it from the north-east File:Woodroffe's Folly - Greek College.png, "Woodroffe's Folly"

See also

References

Further reading